Week 4 in China!

What an awesome week and how grateful I am to have this experience! Time is flying by so I am trying to make the most of every minute! After lots of searching, I was able to find and connect one of John's family lines this week and got a few pages done in my book! Put in a few miles at the gym, and also putting on a few new pounds, but it's all good! John works hard while I'm enjoying a wonderful vacation experience. We are getting to know more of the members here and I had some neat missionary experiences this week. John has been asked to do a District Self Reliance Seminar next Saturday and also speak in church the week he gets back! 

Wednesday evening on way to the church to help the missionaries. Our church is only ten minute ride from the hotel and it's right in the heart of town where the locals live so there's always lots to see!

Getting dropped off at the church!

Brother and Sister Holbrook from Utah. They are just finishing up their 18 month mission at the end of the month. They will be sorely missed here!

These two pics are of the street our church is on.

The side streets are very narrow and usually one way! Most of the people here ride mopeds or the bus. We have to get a ride since it's hard to find a taxi here.

On Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to be a missionary with Sister Holbrook. Christina Nogueira (middle) is originally from Brazil and has faced some difficult challenges in her life over recent years and has fallen away from the church but now has a desire to come back. Brother and Sister Holbrook have played a big role in this decision. Christina and I have felt a special spiritual bond from the moment we first met, and I know the Spirit has put us together at this time! I am grateful to be able to take part in meeting with her each week and having the opportunity to encourage and share my testimony with her!

This is a typical entrance to the high rise apartments here.

 Their mail is delivered in the slots to the right of the door

and you need your key to enter.

A local Macau movie theatre 

Enjoying breakfast buffet with Connie Johnson, a branch member and friend whose husband Eric works at the Venetian here. They are from Vegas and are going on their third year here. She is the YW Pres and he serves as Elders Quorum Pres. They have four little boys! It was fun to get to visit and get to spend time with her this morning while her boys were in school. Yes the plate with all the pastries was mine. I always have a hard time picking just one for dessert at the buffet!

This is a lady named Retchel Mayor. I know I was helped to find her as I was searching up and down the street in Taipa looking for a place to get my nails done. She was the third shop I went into and the only person I could find that could speak some English. Getting my nails done was almost a three  hour experience but it was worth it because I got to visit about the gospel with her the entire time.  She knew of our church and was very involved with the sister missionaries over in Hong and had a baptism date all set, but her mom said she would disown her so she decided not to go through with it. Since that time she has moved to Macau, her mom has passed away, and she said she has really missed the church and the feelings of the Spirit there. She wanted to show me all her pictures of the activities and members she had met in Hong Kong.  We spent two hours talking about the gospel and I gave her info to the sister missionaries here in our branch. We have also been messaging on Facebook almost daily and I know she wants to get involved again, but has to work 10am to 8:30 every day but Tuesdays, so she doesn't know how she can make it to church. Many of the people in our branch, including this sister, leave their families in the Phillipines to come over here to work, and they only get to go home once a year. They work six days a week 8 to 10 hours a day and send the money home to support their families. Very humbling. She was so grateful for our visit, and I'm excited for the sister missionaries to get in touch with her! 

I discovered this little cheesecake shop down the street inside one of the hotels! They are so yummy but not so good on the waistline! It's a good excuse to go for a walk down that way now!

They are all yummy!!! Wish I could bring some back home to share!7

On Saturday I helped Bro and Sis Holbrook make dinner to feed

the visiting authorities for our district conference on Sat evening and Sunday! 

We fixed the food at their apartment then wheeled it all approx 8 blocks 

to the District offices. It was quite an experience trying to get crockpots of soup

that far without spilling any. We did pretty good! It was very hot and humid and made me appreciate having a car and air conditioning! Once we got the food there, we headed back to their apartment and the sister missionaries came over to help make muffins and desert for the Sunday luncheon. We were hot and tired by then so we were happy for their help. Besides, it was fun to spend time with them!

This is the street the Holbrooks live on.

Inside their missionary apartment! They actually live in a very nice 

Apartment for over here! They even have a small oven and a small washing machine (in their tiny kitchen). 

Walking by the church on our way back from delivering the food to the district office.

Above and below is an old church and cemetery near our church.

Mothers Day! 

I got to spend Mothers Day being spoiled with Inroom breakfast...

And the highlight of the day was getting to skype with our missionary!

He looked and sounded so good, and he is loving every moment of his mission. 

It was so neat for John and I to get to visit with him! 

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful Mother and we loved getting to visit with her on this special day! I hope to be even half the mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother she is! As we were ending our Mother's Day here in China, hers was just beginning! We hope it was special. We sure love you Mom!

I also enjoyed all the special Mothers Day messages and FaceTime calls 

from the kids and grandkids! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

We miss all of them and can't wait to get back to be with them again!